Editing Legitimacy (family law)

{{Short description|Legal status of a child born to parents who are legally married}}
{{About||other uses of "legitimacy" and "illegitimate"|Legitimacy (disambiguation){{!}}Legitimacy}}
{{redirect|Bastardy|the 1972 play| Bastardy (play)|the 2008 film |Bastardy (film)}}
{{Globalize|article|Europe and North America|date=April 2023}}
{{Family law}}
'''Legitimacy''', in traditional Western [[common law]], is the status of a child born to parents who are legally [[marriage|married]] to each other, and of a child [[Fertilisation|conceived]] before the parents obtain a legal [[divorce]]. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''bastardy'', has been the status of a child born outside marriage, such a child being known as a '''bastard''', a '''love child''', a '''natural child''', or '''illegitimate'''. In [[Scots law]], the terms '''natural son''' and '''natural daughter''' carry the same implications.

The importance of legitimacy has decreased substantially in Western developed countries since the [[sexual revolution]] of the 1960s and 1970s and the declining influence of [[Christianity|Christian]] churches, especially [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], [[Anglicanism|Anglican]], and [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], in family and social life. 

A substantial proportion of births are now outside marriage, in multiple countries in [[Western Europe]], the [[Americas]], and in many former European colonies.<ref name="non_mar1"/>

==Law==
[[England]]'s [[Statute of Merton]] (1235) stated, regarding illegitimacy: "He is a bastard that is born before the marriage of his parents."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/HistoryBeforeEuropeanSettlement|title=1788 - Before European Settlement|access-date=2012-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205181214/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/HistoryBeforeEuropeanSettlement|archive-date=2012-02-05}}</ref>  This definition also applied to situations when a child's parents could not marry, as when one or both were already married or when the relationship was incestuous.

The [[Poor Act 1575]] formed the basis of English bastardy law. Its purpose was to punish a bastard child's mother and putative father, and to relieve the parish from the cost of supporting mother and child. "By an act of 1576 ([[18 Eliz. 1|18 Elizabeth]] C. 3), it was ordered that bastards should be supported by their putative fathers, though bastardy orders in the quarter sessions date from before this date. If the genitor could be found, then he was put under very great pressure to accept responsibility and to maintain the child."<ref>{{cite book |last=Macfarlane |first=Alan |chapter=Illegitimacy and illegitimates in English history |chapter-url=http://alanmacfarlane.com/TEXTS/bastardy.pdf |title=Bastardy and its comparative history |year=1980 |publisher=Arnold |editor-last=Laslett |editor-first=Peter |display-editors=etal |via=Alanmacfarlane.com }}</ref>

Under [[English law]], a bastard could not [[inheritance|inherit]] [[real property]] and could not be legitimized by the subsequent marriage of father to  mother. There was one exception: when his father subsequently married his mother, and an older illegitimate son (a "bastard eignè") took possession of his father's lands after his death, he would pass the land on to his own heirs on his death, as if his possession of the land had been retroactively converted into true ownership. A younger non-bastard brother (a "mulier puisnè") would have no claim to the land.<ref>William Blackstone (1753), ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', Book II, Chapter XV "Of Title by Purchase and I. Escheat", Section 5.</ref>

There were many "natural children" of [[Scotland]]'s monarchy granted positions which founded prominent families. In the 14th century, [[Robert II of Scotland]] gifted one of his illegitimate sons estates in [[County of Bute|Bute]], founding the [[Marquess of Bute|Stewarts of Bute]], and similarly a natural son of [[Robert III of Scotland]] was ancestral to the [[Shaw Stewart baronets|Shaw Stewarts of Greenock]].<ref name="Smibert1850">{{cite book |last=Smibert |first=Thomas |title=The clans of the Highlands of Scotland: an account of their annals, with delineations of their tartans, and family arms |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LScAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA3 |year=1850 |pages=3 et seq |author-link=Thomas Smibert}}</ref>

In [[Scots law]] an illegitimate child, a "natural son" or "natural daughter", would be legitimated by the subsequent marriage of his parents, provided they had been free to marry at the date of the conception.<ref>AB Wilkinson and KMcK Norrie, The Law Relating to Parent and Child in Scotland, W.Green, Edinburgh 2nd Ed 1999 para 1.54</ref><ref name="Genealogy and Family History in Scotland 2017">{{cite web | title=Category: Baptisms | website=Genealogy and Family History in Scotland | date=12 April 2017 | url=http://www.oldscottish.com/1/category/baptisms | access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref> The Legitimation (Scotland) Act 1968 extended legitimation by the subsequent marriage of the parents to children conceived when their parents were not free to marry, but this was repealed in 2006 by the amendment of section 1 of the Law Reform (Parent and Child) (Scotland) Act 1986 (as amended in 2006) which abolished the status of illegitimacy stating that "(1) No person whose status is governed by Scots law shall be illegitimate ...".

The [[Legitimacy Act 1926]]<ref>[[Legitimacy Act 1926]] (16 & 17 Geo. 5 c. 60)</ref> of England and Wales legitimised the birth of a child if the parents subsequently married each other, provided that they had not been married to someone else in the meantime. The [[Legitimacy Act 1959]] extended the legitimisation even if the parents had married others in the meantime and applied it to [[putative marriage]]s which the parents incorrectly believed were valid. Neither the 1926 nor 1959 Acts changed the laws of [[succession to the British throne]] and succession to [[peerage]] and baronetcy titles. In Scotland children legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their parents have always been entitled to succeed to peerages and baronetcies and the Legitimation (Scotland) Act 1968 extended this right to children conceived when their parents were not free to marry.<ref>Viscount of Drumlanrig's Tutor 1977 SLT (Lyon Ct) 16</ref> The Family Law Reform Act 1969 (c. 46) allowed a bastard to inherit on the [[intestacy]] of his parents. In [[canon law|canon]] and in [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]], the offspring of putative marriages have also been considered legitimate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02579b.htm |website=Catholic Encyclopedia |title=Defect of Birth (Illegitimacy) |access-date=20 April 2016 }}</ref>

Since December 2003 in [[England and Wales]], April 2002 in [[Northern Ireland]] and May 2006 in [[Scotland]], an unmarried father has [[parental responsibility (access and custody)|parental responsibility]] if he is listed on the [[birth certificate]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/parental-rights-responsibilities/who-has-parental-responsibility |title=Parental rights and responsibilities |website=UK Government |access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref>

In the United States, in the early 1970s a series of [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] decisions held that most common-law disabilities imposed upon illegitimacy were invalid as violations of the [[Equal Protection Clause]] of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web|title=US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez|url=http://supreme.justia.com/constitution/amendment-14/90-illegitimacy.html|access-date=19 July 2011}}</ref> Still, children born out of wedlock may not be eligible for certain federal benefits (e.g., automatic [[Citizenship in the United States#Naturalized citizenship|naturalization]] when the father becomes a US citizen) unless the child has been legitimized in the appropriate jurisdiction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title8-vol1/pdf/CFR-2012-title8-vol1-sec320-3.pdf |title=§ 320.2: Who is eligible for citizenship? |access-date=2015-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414032706/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title8-vol1/pdf/CFR-2012-title8-vol1-sec320-3.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-14 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.hklaw.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Press%20Releases/WatsonComplaint.pdf Watson ''vs.'' the United States], specifically the USCIS denial letter in Exhibit S, Hklaw.com</ref>

Many other countries have legislatively abolished any legal disabilities of a child born out of wedlock.<ref>e.g. section 1 of the Law Reform (Parent and Child) (Scotland) Act 1986 (as amended in 2006) which abolished the status of illegitimacy.</ref>{{Citation needed|reason=vague. there is no citation here for this entire paragraph. which countries?|date=November 2016}}

In [[France]], legal reforms regarding illegitimacy began in the 1970s, but it was only in the 21st century that the principle of equality was fully upheld (through Act no. 2002-305 of 4 March 2002, removing mention of "illegitimacy" — ''filiation légitime'' and ''filiation naturelle''; and through law no. 2009-61 of 16 January 2009).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dictionnaire-juridique.com/definition/autorite-parentale.php|title=Autorité parentale - Définition|author=Serge BRAUDO|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ceflonline.net/wp-content/uploads/France-Parental-Responsibilities.pdf |title=National Report: France |website=Ceflonline.net |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000020104273&dateTexte=&categorieLien=id|title=LOI n° 2009-61 du 16 janvier 2009 ratifiant l'ordonnance n° 2005-759 du 4 juillet 2005 portant réforme de la filiation et modifiant ou abrogeant diverses dispositions relatives à la filiation - Legifrance|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> In 2001, France was forced by the [[European Court of Human Rights]] to change several laws that were deemed discriminatory, and in 2013 the Court ruled that these changes must also be applied to children born before 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-116716# |title=European Court of Human Rights|work=HUDOC|access-date=2023-02-11}}</ref>

In some countries, the family law itself explicitly states that there must be equality between the children born outside and inside marriage: in Bulgaria, for example, the new 2009 Family Code lists "equality of the born during the matrimony, out of matrimony and of the adopted children" as one of the principles of family law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kenarova.com/law/Family%20Code.pdf |title=FAMILY CODE: In force from 01.10.2009: Chapter one: GENERAL PROVISIONS |website=Kenarova.com |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref>

The ''European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/085.htm|title=Liste complète|website=Bureau des Traités|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> came into force in 1978. Countries which ratify it must ensure that children born outside marriage are provided with legal rights as stipulated in the text of this convention. The convention was ratified by the UK in 1981 and by Ireland in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT=085&CM=&DF=&CL=ENG|title=Liste complète|website=Bureau des Traités|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref>

In later years, the inheritance rights of many illegitimate children have improved, and changes of laws have allowed them to inherit properties.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 February 2020 |title=Make a claim to a deceased person's estate |url=https://www.gov.uk/guidance/make-a-claim-to-a-deceased-persons-estate |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref> More recently, the laws of England have been changed to allow illegitimate children to inherit [[entail]]ed property, over their legitimate brothers and sisters.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

==Contemporary situation==
Despite the decreasing legal relevance of illegitimacy, an important exception may be found in the [[nationality law]]s of many countries, which do not apply ''[[jus sanguinis]]'' (nationality by citizenship of a parent) to children born out of wedlock, particularly in cases where the child's connection to the country lies only through the father. This is true, for example, of the United States,<ref>{{cite web|title=Instructions for N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship|url=http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/n-600instr.pdf|publisher=U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services|access-date=1 October 2010|archive-date=19 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019040945/http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/n-600instr.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and its constitutionality was upheld in 2001 by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in ''[[Nguyen v. INS]]''.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Tuan Anh Nguyen et al. ''v.'' Immigration and Naturalization Service |vol=533 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=53 |date=2001 |url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=533&invol=53}}</ref> In the UK, the policy was changed so that children born after 1 July 2006 could receive British citizenship from their father if their parents were unmarried at the time of the child's birth; illegitimate children born before this date cannot receive British citizenship through their father.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/756515/Nationality-policy-children-of-unmarried-parents-v2.0EXT.pdf |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124162225/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/756515/Nationality-policy-children-of-unmarried-parents-v2.0EXT.pdf |archive-date=2018-11-24 |title=Nationality policy: children of unmarried parents|date=6 November 2018|version=v2.0|website=[[Home Office]]}}</ref>
[[File:Elizabeth I Unknown Artist.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Elizabeth I]]]]
Legitimacy also continues to be relevant to hereditary titles, with only legitimate children being admitted to the [[line of succession]]. Some monarchs, however, have succeeded to the throne despite the controversial status of their legitimacy. For example, [[Elizabeth I]] succeeded to the throne though she was legally held illegitimate as a result of her parents' marriage having been annulled after her birth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stuarts.exeter.ac.uk/education/biographies/elizabeth-i/|title=Elizabeth I|website=The Stuart Successions Project}}</ref> Her older half-sister [[Mary I]] had acceded to the throne before her in a similar circumstance: her parents' marriage had been annulled in order to allow her father to marry [[Anne Boleyn|Elizabeth's mother]].

[[Annulment]] of marriage does not currently change the status of legitimacy of children born to the couple during their [[putative marriage]], ''i.e.'', between their marriage ceremony and the legal annulment of their marriage. For example, canon 1137 of the [[Roman Catholic Church]]'s [[1983 Code of Canon Law|Code of Canon Law]] specifically affirms the legitimacy of a child born to a marriage that is [[Annulment#Annulment in the Catholic Church|declared null]] following the child's birth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann998-1165_en.html#CHAPTER_VIII |title=Canon 1137|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=|website=[[1983 Code of Canon Law|Code of Canon Law]] |publisher=[[Vatican Publishing House|Libreria Editrice Vaticana]]|access-date=2021-12-15|quote="The children conceived or born of a valid or putative marriage are legitimate."}}</ref>

The Catholic Church is also changing its attitude toward unwed mothers and baptism of the children. In criticizing the priests who refused to baptize out-of-wedlock children, [[Pope Francis]] argued that the mothers had done the right thing by giving life to the child and should not be shunned by the church:<ref>{{cite news|last=The Guardian|title=Pope Francis on gay marriage, unmarried mothers … and journalists|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/13/pope-francis-quotations-by-him-about-him | location=London|date=13 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Fox|title=Francis is first pope from the Americas|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/francis-is-first-pope-from-the-americas-austere-jesuit-who-modernized-argentine-church | work=Fox News|date=13 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=ABC News|title=Francis Becomes First Latin American Pope
|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/francis-latin-american-pope/story?id=18722276|website=Abcnews.go.com|access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|In our ecclesiastical region there are priests who don't baptise the children of single mothers because they weren't conceived in the sanctity of marriage. These are today's hypocrites. Those who clericalise the church. Those who separate the people of God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it's baptised!}}

==Nonmarital births==
{{anchor | Nonmarital | Nonmarital births }}
[[File:Percentage of birth to unmarried women, selected countries, 1980 and 2007.png|400px|thumb|Percentage of births to unmarried women, selected countries, 1980 and 2007<ref name="non_mar1">{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db18.htm#:~:text=Most%20births%20to%20teenagers%20(86,steeply%20from%2050%25%20in%201970.|title=Changing Patterns of Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States |website=CDC/National Center for Health Statistics|date=May 13, 2009|access-date=January 11, 2021}}</ref>]]
[[File:Nonmarital Birth Rates in the United States, 1940-2014.png|thumb|400px|Nonmarital birth rates by race in the United States from 1940 to 2014. Data are from the [[National Vital Statistics System]] Reports published by the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC]] [[National Center for Health Statistics]]. Note: Before 1969, the rates for all minority groups were consolidated in the category of "Non-White."<ref>{{cite report|last1=Grove|first1=Robert D.|last2=Hetzel|first2=Alice M.|title=Vital Statistics Rates in the United States 1940-1960|series=Public Health Service Publication|volume=1677|publisher=[[United States Department of Health and Human Services#Department of Health, Education, and Welfare|U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare]], [[United States Public Health Service|U.S. Public Health Service]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]]|year=1968|page=185|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/vsrates1940_60.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Ventura|first1=Stephanie J.|last2=Bachrach|first2=Christine A.|title=Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States, 1940-99|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=48|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=October 18, 2000|issue=16|pages=28–31|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr48/nvs48_16.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Ventura|first3=Stephanie J.|last4=Menacker|first4=Fay|last5=Park|first5=Melissa M.|title=Births: Final Data for 2000|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=50|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=February 12, 2002|issue=5|page=46|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_05.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Ventura|first3=Stephanie J.|last4=Menacker|first4=Fay|last5=Park|first5=Melissa M.|last6=Sutton|first6=Paul D.|title=Births: Final Data for 2001|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=51|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=December 18, 2002|issue=2|page=47|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr51/nvsr51_02.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Sutton|first3=Paul D.|last4=Ventura|first4=Stephanie J.|last5=Menacker|first5=Fay|last6=Munson|first6=Martha L.|title=Births: Final Data for 2002|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=52|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=December 17, 2003|issue=10|page=57|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr52/nvsr52_10.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Sutton|first3=Paul D.|last4=Ventura|first4=Stephanie J.|last5=Menacker|first5=Fay|last6=Munson|first6=Martha L.|title=Births: Final Data for 2003|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=54|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=September 8, 2005|issue=2|page=52|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_02.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Sutton|first3=Paul D.|last4=Ventura|first4=Stephanie J.|last5=Menacker|first5=Fay|last6=Kirmeyer|first6=Sharon|title=Births: Final Data for 2004|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=55|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=September 29, 2006|issue=1|page=57|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_01.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Sutton|first3=Paul D.|last4=Ventura|first4=Stephanie J.|last5=Menacker|first5=Fay|last6=Kirmeyer|first6=Sharon|last7=Munson|first7=Martha L.|title=Births: Final Data for 2005|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=56|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=December 5, 2007|issue=6|page=57|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_06.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Sutton|first3=Paul D.|last4=Ventura|first4=Stephanie J.|last5=Menacker|first5=Fay|last6=Kirmeyer|first6=Sharon|last7=Mathews|first7=T.J.|title=Births: Final Data for 2006|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=57|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=January 7, 2009|issue=7|page=54|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_07.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Sutton|first3=Paul D.|last4=Ventura|first4=Stephanie J.|last5=Mathews|first5=T.J.|last6=Kirmeyer|first6=Sharon|last7=Osterman|first7=Michelle J.K.|title=Births: Final Data for 2007|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=58|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=August 9, 2010|issue=24|page=46|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_24.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Sutton|first3=Paul D.|last4=Ventura|first4=Stephanie J.|last5=Mathews|first5=T.J.|last6=Osterman|first6=Michelle J.K.|title=Births: Final Data for 2008|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=59|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=December 8, 2010|issue=1|page=46|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr59/nvsr59_01.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Ventura|first3=Stephanie J.|last4=Osterman|first4=Michelle J.K.|last5=Kirmeyer|first5=Sharon|last6=Mathews|first6=T.J.|last7=Wilson|first7=Elizabeth C.|title=Births: Final Data for 2009|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=60|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=November 3, 2011|issue=1|page=46|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_01.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Ventura|first3=Stephanie J.|last4=Osterman|first4=Michelle J.K.|last5=Wilson|first5=Elizabeth C.|last6=Mathews|first6=T.J.|title=Births: Final Data for 2010|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=61|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=August 28, 2012|issue=1|page=45|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_01.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Ventura|first3=Stephanie J.|last4=Osterman|first4=Michelle J.K.|last5=Mathews|first5=T.J.|title=Births: Final Data for 2011|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=62|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=June 28, 2013|issue=1|page=43|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_01.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Osterman|first3=Michelle J.K.|last4=Curtin|first4=Sally C.|title=Births: Final Data for 2012|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=62|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=December 30, 2013|issue=9|page=41|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_09.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Martin|first1=Joyce A.|last2=Hamilton|first2=Brady E.|last3=Osterman|first3=Michelle J.K.|last4=Curtin|first4=Sally C.|last5=Mathews|first5=T.J.|title=Births: Final Data for 2013|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=64|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=January 15, 2015|issue=1|page=40|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Hamilton|first1=Brady E.|last2=Martin|first2=Joyce A.|last3=Osterman|first3=Michelle J.K.|last4=Curtin|first4=Sally C.|last5=Mathews|first5=T.J.|title=Births: Final Data for 2014|series=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=64|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]], [[National Center for Health Statistics]], [[National Vital Statistics System]]|date=December 23, 2015|issue=12|pages=7 & 41|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_12.pdf}}</ref>]]

The proportion of children born outside marriage has been rising since the turn of the 21st century in most European Union countries,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demogr.mpg.de/en/projects_publications/publications_1904/mpidr_working_papers/spatial_aspects_of_the_rise_of_nonmarital_fertility_across_europe_since_1960_the_role_of_states_4404.htm |title=MPIDR - Spatial aspects of the rise of nonmarital fertility across Europe since 1960: the role of states and regions in shaping patterns of change |website=Demogr.mpg.de |access-date=2017-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923213635/http://www.demogr.mpg.de/en/projects_publications/publications_1904/mpidr_working_papers/spatial_aspects_of_the_rise_of_nonmarital_fertility_across_europe_since_1960_the_role_of_states_4404.htm |archive-date=2015-09-23 }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web | url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20200717-1 | title=42% of births in the EU are outside marriage }}</ref> North America, and Australia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Share of births outside marriage and teenage births |url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/38/6/40278615.pdf |publisher=[[OECD]] Directorate for Employment, Labour, and Social Affairs|access-date=Oct 19, 2009}}</ref> In Europe, besides the low levels of fertility rates and the delay of motherhood, another factor that now characterizes fertility is the growing percentage of births outside marriage. In the [[European Union|EU]], this phenomenon has been on the rise in recent years in almost every country; and in eight EU countries, mostly in northern Europe, as well as in Iceland outside of the EU, it already accounts for the majority of births.<ref name="auto"/>

In 2009, 41% of children born in the [[United States]] were born to unmarried mothers, a significant increase from the 5% of half a century earlier. That includes 73% of non-Hispanic black children, 53% of Hispanic children (of all races), and 29% of non-Hispanic white children.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr59/nvsr59_03.pdf?loc=interstitialskip|title=National Vital Statistics Reports, Volume 59, Number 3, December 21, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2011-01-25-editorial25_ST_N.htm|title=Our view on kids: When unwed births hit 41%, it's just not right | work=USA Today | date=25 January 2011}}</ref> In 2020, the proportion was almost similar, with 40.5% of children born in the United States being born to unmarried mothers.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/unmarried-childbearing.htm | title=FastStats | date=17 May 2022 }}</ref>

In April 2009, the [[National Center for Health Statistics]] announced that nearly 40&nbsp;percent of American infants born in 2007 were born to an [[unwed mother]]; that of 4.3&nbsp;million children, 1.7 million were born to unmarried parents, a 25&nbsp;percent increase from 2002.<ref>{{cite news |title=Out-of-wedlock births hit record high |date=April 8, 2009 |first=Jessica |last=Ravitz |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/04/08/out.of.wedlock.births/index.html?iref=t2test_livingwed |publisher=CNN |access-date=Oct 19, 2009}}</ref> Most births to teenagers in the United States (86% in 2007) are nonmarital; in 2007, 60% of births to women 20–24, and nearly one-third of births to women 25–29, were nonmarital.<ref name="non_mar1" /> In 2007, teenagers accounted for just 23% of non-marital births, down steeply from 50% in 1970.<ref name="non_mar1" />

In 2014, 42% of all births in the 28 EU countries were nonmarital.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/DEMO_FIND__custom_1246158/default/table?lang=en|title=Eurostat - Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table |website=Ec.europa.eu |date=2016-08-11 |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref> The percentage was also 42% in 2018.<ref name="auto"/> In 2018, births outside of marriage represented the majority of births in eight EU member states: France (60%), Bulgaria (59%), Slovenia (58%), Portugal (56%), Sweden (55%), Denmark and Estonia (both 54%), and the Netherlands (52%). The lowest percentage were in Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Poland and Lithuania, with a percentage of under 30%.<ref name="auto"/> 

To a certain degree, [[religion]] (the religiosity of the population - see [[religion in Europe]]) correlates with the proportion of non-marital births (e.g., Greece, Cyprus, Croatia have a low percentage of births outside marriage), but this is not always the case: Portugal (56% in 2018<ref name="auto"/>) is among the most religious countries in Europe.

The proportion of non-marital births is also approaching half in the [[Czech Republic]] (48.5%. in 2021<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/ari/population-change-year-2021 | title=Population change - year 2021|website = Czech Statistical Office (CZCO)|date = 21 March 2022 }}</ref>), the [[United Kingdom]] (48.2% as of 2017<ref name="ReferenceA"/>) and [[Hungary]] (46.7% as of 2016<ref name="ReferenceA"/>).

The prevalence of births to unmarried women varies not only between different countries, but also between different geographical areas of the same country: for example, in Germany, there are very strong differences between the regions of former [[West Germany]] and [[East Germany]] with a non-religious majority. Significantly more children are born out of wedlock in eastern Germany than in western Germany. In 2012, in eastern Germany 61.6% of births were to unmarried women, while in western Germany only 28.4% were.<ref name="demographic-research.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol33/9/33-9.pdf |title=The low importance of marriage in eastern Germany – social norms and the role of peoples' perceptions of the past |website=Demographic-research.org |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref> In the UK, in 2014, 59.4% of births were non-marital in [[North East of England]], 58.9% in [[Wales]], 54.2% in [[North West England]], 52.4% in [[Yorkshire and the Humber]], 52% in [[East Midlands]], 50.8% in [[Scotland]], 50.4% in [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]], 48.5% in [[South West England]], 45.5% in [[East of England]], 43.2% in [[Northern Ireland]], 42.9% in [[South East England]], and 35.7% in [[London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-378873|title=[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Release Edition Reference Tables|website=Office for National Statistics|access-date=20 April 2016|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222134411/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-378873|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In France, in 2012, 66.9% of births were non-marital in [[Poitou-Charentes]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/tableau.asp?reg_id=12&ref_id=poptc02201 |title=Résultats de la recherche &#124; Insee |language=fr|website=Insee.fr |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref> while only 46.6% were in [[Ile-de-France]] (which contains [[Paris]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/tableau.asp?reg_id=20&ref_id=poptc02201 |title=Résultats de la recherche &#124; Insee |language=fr|website=Insee.fr |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref> One of the reasons for the lower prevalence of non-marital births in the metropolis is the high number of immigrants from conservative world regions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/tony-travers-thanks-to-immigrants-were-the-capital-for-marriage-8836226.html|title=Tony Travers: Thanks to immigrants we're the capital for marriage|date=24 September 2013|website=Evening Standard|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> In Canada, in [[Quebec]], the majority of births since 1995 onwards have been outside marriage.<ref name="stat.gouv.qc.ca">{{cite web|url=http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/statistiques/population-demographie/naissance-fecondite/5p2.htm|title=Proportion de naissances hors mariage1 selon le rang de naissance, Québec, 1976-2014|publisher=Institut de la Statistique du Québec|access-date=20 April 2016|archive-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205202311/http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/statistiques/population-demographie/naissance-fecondite/5p2.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> As of 2015, 63% of births were outside marriage in Quebec.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web |url=http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/statistiques/population-demographie/naissance-fecondite/5p2.htm |title=Proportion de naissances hors mariage selon le rang de naissance, Québec, 1976-2015 |website=Stat.gouv.qc.ca |access-date=2017-03-26 |archive-date=2018-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205202311/http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/statistiques/population-demographie/naissance-fecondite/5p2.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Traditionally conservative Catholic countries in the EU now also have substantial proportions of non-marital births, as of 2016 (except where otherwise stated):<ref name="ReferenceA"/> [[Portugal]] (52.8% <ref name="pordata.pt">{{cite web|url=http://www.pordata.pt/en/Portugal/Live%20births%20outside%20of%20marriage%20%20with%20parents%20co%20habiting%20or%20not%20(percentage)-620 |title=PORDATA - Live births outside of marriage, with parents co-habiting or not (%) in Portugal |website=Pordata.pt |date=2016-04-28 |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref>), [[Spain]] (45.9%), [[Austria]] (41.7%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statistik.at/web_en/statistics/PeopleSociety/population/births/index.html|title=Births|publisher=STATISTIK AUSTRIA|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref>), [[Luxembourg]] (40.7%<ref name="ReferenceA"/>) [[Slovakia]] (40.2%<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/DEMO_FIND__custom_1246158/default/table?lang=en|title=Eurostat - Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table|website=ec.europa.eu}}</ref>), [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] (36.5%),<ref name="ec.europa.eu">{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps00018&plugin=1|title=Eurostat - Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table|website=ec.europa.eu}}</ref> [[Malta]] (31.8%<ref name="ReferenceC"/>)

The percentage of first-born children born out of wedlock is considerably higher (by roughly 10%, for the EU), as marriage often takes place after the first baby has arrived. For example, for the Czech Republic, whereas the total nonmarital births are less than half, 47.7%, (third quarter of 2015) the percentage of first-born outside marriage is more than half, 58.2%.<ref name="czso.cz">{{cite web|url=https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/ari/population-change-3-quarter-of-2015|title=Population change - 1st - 3rd quarter of 2015 &#124; CZSO|website=Czso.cz|access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref>

In [[Australia]], in 1971, only 7% of births were outside of marriage, compared to 36% in 2020.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://aifs.gov.au/research/facts-and-figures/births-australia|title=Births in Australia &#124; Australian Institute of Family Studies}}</ref> The proportion of births outside of marriage was the highest in the [[Northern Territory]] (59%) and the lowest in the [[Australian Capital Territory|ACT]] (28%).<ref name="auto1"/>

[[Latin America]] has the highest rates of non-marital childbearing in the world (55–74% of all children in this region are born to unmarried parents).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sustaindemographicdividend.org/articles/international-family-indicators/global-childrens-trends |title=Global Children's Trends &#124; The Sustainable Demographic Dividend |publisher=Sustaindemographicdividend.org |access-date=2013-02-11}}</ref> In most countries in this traditionally Catholic region, children born outside marriage are now the norm. Recent figures from Latin America show non-marital births to be 74% in [[Colombia]], 70% in [[Paraguay]], 69% in [[Peru]], 63% in the [[Dominican Republic]], 58% in [[Argentina]], 55% in [[Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldfamilymap.org/2014/e-ppendix/figure5|title=Births outside marriage|publisher=Childtrends.org|access-date=2014-12-06|archive-date=2015-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206070035/http://worldfamilymap.org/2014/e-ppendix/figure5|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="sustaindemographicdividend.org">{{cite web|url=http://sustaindemographicdividend.org/articles/international-family-indicators/global-childrens-trends|title=Global Children's Trends - The Sustainable Demographic Dividend|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cis.org/illegitimate_nation.html|title=Illegitimate Nation: An Examination of Out-of-Wedlock Births Among Immigrants and Natives|date=June 2007}}</ref> In [[Brazil]], non-marital births increased to 65.8% in 2009, up from 56.2% in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://paa2013.princeton.edu/papers/131703 |format=PDF |title=The Evolution of Births Outside of Marriage, Paternal Recognition and Children's Rights in Brazil |website=Paa2013.princeton.edu |access-date=2017-03-26 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084714/http://paa2013.princeton.edu/papers/131703 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In [[Chile]], non-marital births increased to 70.7% in 2013, up from 48.3% in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latercera.com/noticia/nacional/2014/07/680-586611-9-alza-de-hijos-fuera-del-matrimonio-muestra-evolucion-de-la-familia-en-chile.shtml|title=Alza de hijos fuera del matrimonio muestra evolución de la familia en Chile|author=Grupo Copesa|date=13 July 2014|access-date=20 April 2016|archive-date=15 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715042243/http://www.latercera.com/noticia/nacional/2014/07/680-586611-9-alza-de-hijos-fuera-del-matrimonio-muestra-evolucion-de-la-familia-en-chile.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Even in the early 1990s, the phenomenon was very common in Latin America. For example, in 1993, out-of-wedlock births in [[Mexico]] were 41.5%, in [[Chile]] 43.6%, in [[Puerto Rico]] 45.8%, in [[Costa Rica]] 48.2%, in [[Argentina]] 52.7%, in [[Belize]] 58.1%, in [[El Salvador]] 73%, in [[Suriname]] 66%, and in [[Panama]] 80%.<ref name="un1997"/>

Out-of-wedlock births are less common in Asia: in 1993 the rate in [[Japan]] was 1.4%; in [[Israel]], 3.1%; in [[China]], 5.6%; in [[Uzbekistan]], 6.4%; in [[Kazakhstan]], 21%; and in [[Kyrgyzstan]], 24%.<ref name="un1997">{{cite web|url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/DYBNat/NatStatTab13.pdf|title=Live births by legitimacy status, and percent illegitimate: 1990 - 1998|author=UN|author-link=UN}}</ref> However, in the [[Philippines]], the out-of-wedlock birth rate was 37% in 2008–2009,<ref name="sustaindemographicdividend.org"/> which skyrocketed to 52.1% by 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/attachments/crd/specialrelease/SR%202015%20Births_tab4%265.pdf|title=2015 PSA data on live births by legitimacy by regions}}</ref>

==Covert illegitimacy==
{{Main|Non-paternity event}}

Covert illegitimacy is a situation which arises when someone who is presumed to be a child's father (or mother) is in fact not the biological father (or mother). Frequencies as high as 30% are sometimes assumed in the media, but research<ref name=2009gilding>{{cite journal |last1= Gilding |first1= Michael |year= 2005 |title= Rampant misattributed paternity: the creation of an urban myth |journal= People and Place |volume= 13 |issue= 12 |pages= 1&ndash;11 |url= http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/480786 }}</ref><ref name=2009bgilding>{{Cite journal | last1 = Gilding | first1 = M. | doi = 10.1177/0038038508099102 | title = Paternity Uncertainty and Evolutionary Psychology: How a Seemingly Capricious Occurrence Fails to Follow Laws of Greater Generality | journal = Sociology | volume = 43 | pages = 140–691 | year = 2009 | s2cid = 145367552 }}</ref> by sociologist Michael Gilding traced these overestimates back to an informal remark at a 1972 conference.<ref name=1973philipp>Philipp EE (1973) "Discussion: moral, social and ethical issues". In: Wolstenholme GEW, Fitzsimons DW, eds. ''Law and ethics of AID and embryo transfer''. Ciba Foundation symposium. Vol 17. London: Associated Scientific 63–66</ref>

The detection of unsuspected illegitimacy can occur in the context of medical genetic screening,<ref name=2005bellis>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bellis MA, Hughes K, Hughes S, Ashton JR |title=Measuring paternal discrepancy and its public health consequences |journal=J Epidemiol Community Health |volume=59 |issue=9 |pages=749–54 |date=September 2005 |pmid=16100312 |pmc=1733152 |doi=10.1136/jech.2005.036517 }}</ref> in genetic family name research,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Sykes | first1 = B | last2 = Irven | first2 = C | year = 2000 | title = Surnames and the Y chromosome | journal = Am J Hum Genet | volume = 66 | issue = 4| pages = 1417–1419 | doi=10.1086/302850 | pmid=10739766 | pmc=1288207}}</ref><ref name=2009king>{{citation|last1=King|first1=Turi E.|last2=Jobling|first2=Mark A.|title=Founders, Drift, and Infidelity: The Relationship between Y Chromosome Diversity and Patrilineal Surnames|pmc=2668828|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|volume=26|issue=5|year=2009|pmid=19204044|doi=10.1093/molbev/msp022|pages=1093–102}}</ref> and in immigration testing.<ref name="ForsterEtAl">{{cite journal | last1 = Forster | first1 = P | last2 = Hohoff | first2 = C | last3 = Dunkelmann | first3 = B | last4 = Schürenkamp | first4 = M | last5 = Pfeiffer | first5 = H | last6 = Neuhuber | first6 = F | last7 = Brinkmann | first7 = B | year = 2015 | title = Elevated germline mutation rate in teenage fathers | journal = Proc Biol Sci | volume = 282 | issue = 1803| page = 20142898 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2014.2898 | pmid=25694621 | pmc=4345458}}</ref> Such studies show that covert illegitimacy is in fact less than 10% among the sampled African populations, less than 5% among the sampled Native American and Polynesian populations, less than 2% of the sampled Middle Eastern population, and generally 1%–2% among European samples.<ref name="2005bellis"/>

==Causes for rise in nonmarital births==
{{Further|Reproductive rights}}

The rise in illegitimacy noted in Britain throughout the eighteenth century has been associated with the rise of new employment opportunities for women, making them less dependent upon a husband's earnings.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Griffin|first= Emma|title= Sex, illegitimacy and social change in industrializing Britain' |journal= Social History|volume= 38|issue= 2|pages= 139–161|doi= 10.1080/03071022.2013.790236|year= 2013|s2cid= 143607918}}</ref> However, the [[Marriage Act 1753]] sought to curb this practice, by combining the spousals and nuptials; and by the start of the 19th century, [[social convention]] prescribed that brides be virgins at marriage, and illegitimacy became more socially discouraged, especially during the [[Victorian era]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2296151.stm |title=UK &#124; The no-sex 'myth' |work=BBC News |date=2002-10-03 |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref> Later in the 20th century, the social changes of the 1960s and 1970s started to reverse this trend, with an increase in cohabitation and alternative family formation. Elsewhere in Europe and Latin America, the increase in nonmarital births from the late 20th century on has been linked to secularization, enhanced women's rights and standing in society, and the fall of authoritarian dictatorships.<ref name="epc2008.princeton.edu">{{cite web|url=http://epc2008.princeton.edu/papers/80065 |format=PDF |title=Currently cohabiting: relationship expectations and outcomes in the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS): Ernestina Coast |website=Epc2008.princeton.edu |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref><ref name="researchgate.net">{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/200166754|title=Contemporary union formation in Bulgaria: the emergence of cohabitation|author=Elena von der Lippe (Koytcheva)|website=ResearchGate|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/workshops/010623_paper18.pdf |title=Why are cohabitation and extra-marital births so few in Japan? |website=Demogr.mpg.de |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref>

Before the dissolution of [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] regimes in Europe, women's participation in the workforce was actively encouraged by most governments, but socially conservative regimes such as that of [[Nicolae Ceausescu]] practiced restrictive and natalist policies regarding family reproduction, such as total bans on contraception and abortion, and birth rates were tightly controlled by the state. After the dissolution of those regimes, the population was given more choices on how to organize their personal lives, and in regions such as former East Germany, the rate of births outside marriage increased dramatically: as of 2012, 61.6% of births there were outside marriage.<ref name="demographic-research.org"/> Far-right regimes such as those of [[Francoist Spain]] and Portugal's ''[[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]]'' also fell, leading to the democratization and liberalization of society. In Spain and Portugal, important legal changes throughout the 1970s and 1980s included legalization of [[divorce]], decriminalization of [[adultery]], introduction of [[gender equality]] in [[family law]], and removal of the ban on [[contraception]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/spain/43.htm|title=Spain - SOCIAL VALUES AND ATTITUDES|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref>

In many countries there has been a dissociation between marriage and fertility, with the two no longer being closely associated—with births to unmarried couples, as well as [[Voluntary childlessness|childless]] married couples, becoming more common and more socially acceptable. Contributions to these societal changes have been made by the weakening of social and legal norms that regulate peoples' personal lives and relations, especially in regard to marriage, secularization and decreased church control of reproduction, increased participation of [[Women in the workforce|women in the labor force]], changes in the meaning of marriage, risk reduction, individualism, changing views on [[female sexuality]], and availability of [[contraception]].<ref name="epc2008.princeton.edu" /><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=3600162|title=The Deinstitutionalization of American Marriage|first=Andrew J.|last=Cherlin|date=1 January 2004|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|volume=66|issue=4|pages=848–861|doi=10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00058.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol32/5/32-5.pdf |title=The reproductive context of cohabitation in comparative perspective: Contraceptive use in the United States, Spain, and France |website=Demographic-research.org |access-date=2017-03-26}}</ref> New concepts have emerged, such as that of [[reproductive rights]], though these concepts have not been accepted by all cultures. Under the notions of reproductive and sexual rights, individuals—not the state, church, community, etc.—shall decide whether and when individuals shall have children, their number and spacing, the circumstances under which individuals will or will not be sexually active, and their choice of intimate partners and type of relationship.

It is argued that in some places where the control of the church (especially the [[Roman Catholic Church]]) was traditionally very strong, the social changes of the 1960s and 1970s have led to a negative reaction of the population against the lifestyles promoted by the church. One of the explanations of the current high rates of unmarried cohabitation in [[Quebec]] is that the traditionally strong social control of the church and the Catholic doctrine over people's private relations and sexual morality has led the population to rebel against traditional and conservative social values;<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=20058678|title=The Rise of Cohabitation in Quebec: Power of Religion and Power over Religion|first=Benoît|last=Laplante|date=1 January 2006|journal=The Canadian Journal of Sociology|volume=31|issue=1|pages=1–24|doi=10.2307/20058678}}</ref> since 1995 the majority of births in this province are outside marriage, and as of 2015, in Quebec, 63% of children were born to unmarried women.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> The past few decades have seen decreased marriage rates in most Western countries, and this decrease has been accompanied by increased emergence of non-traditional family forms. Average marriage rates across [[OECD]] countries have fallen from 8.1 marriages per 1,000 people in 1970 to 5.0 in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/47701118.pdf |title=Doing Better for Families: Chapter 1: Families are changing |access-date=2014-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222133823/http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/47701118.pdf |archive-date=2014-12-22 }}</ref>

Research on the situation in Bulgaria<ref name="researchgate.net" /> has concluded that

{{Blockquote|[The rise in unmarried cohabitation] shows that for many people it is not of great importance [whether] their union is a legal marriage or [a] consensual union. This [indicates] clear changes in [people's] value orientations [...] and less social pressure for marriage.}}

==History==
[[File:TheOutcastRichardRedgrave.jpg|thumb|300px|''The Outcast'', by [[Richard Redgrave]], 1851. A patriarch casts his daughter and her illegitimate baby out of the family home.]]
[[File:Magdalen-asylum.jpg|300px|thumb|[[Magdalene laundries]] were institutions that existed from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, throughout Europe and North America, where "fallen women", including unmarried mothers, were detained. Photo: Magdalene laundry in [[Ireland]], ca. early twentieth century.<ref>Figure 9, Frances Finnegan, ''Do Penance or Perish'', Congrave Press, 2001.</ref>]]

Certainty of [[paternity (law)|paternity]] has been considered important in a wide range of eras and cultures, especially when inheritance and citizenship were at stake, making the tracking of a man's estate and genealogy a central part of what defined a "legitimate" birth. The ancient [[Latin]] dictum, "''[[Mater semper certa est]]''" ("The [identity of the] mother is always certain", while the father is not), emphasized the dilemma.

In English [[common law]], Justice [[Edward Coke]] in 1626 promulgated the "Four Seas Rule" (''extra quatuor maria'') asserting that, absent impossibility of the father being fertile, there was a [[presumption of paternity]] that a married woman's child was her husband's child. That presumption could be questioned, though courts generally sided with the presumption, thus expanding the range of the presumption to a "Seven Seas Rule". But it was only with the [[Marriage Act 1753]] that a formal and public marriage ceremony at civil law was required, whereas previously marriage had a [[wikt:safe haven|safe haven]] if celebrated in an [[Anglican]] church. Still, many "clandestine" marriages occurred.

In many societies, people born out of wedlock did not have the same rights of [[inheritance]] as those within it, and in some societies, even the same [[civil right]]s. {{which|date=May 2012}} In the United Kingdom and the United States, as late as the 1960s and in certain social strata even up to today, nonmarital birth has carried a [[social stigma]].<ref name="Flora Armitage p. 42">Flora Armitage, ''The Desert and the Stars: A Biography of Lawrence of Arabia'', p. 42.</ref><ref>[[John E. Mack]], ''A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T.E. Lawrence'', pp. 28–29, 32.</ref> In previous centuries unwed mothers were socially pressured to give their children up for [[adoption]]. In other cases nonmarital children have been reared by [[grandparent]]s or married [[Kinship|relative]]s as the "sisters", "brothers" or "cousins" of the unwed mothers.<ref>On the 4 March 2011 ''[[Charlie Rose (talk show)|Charlie Rose]]'' TV interview program, British [[Nobel laureate]] [[Paul Nurse]] told such a story of "shame": he was reared by his grandparents as the supposed younger brother of his now-deceased biological mother, and has never learned who his biological father was.</ref>

In most national [[jurisdiction]]s, the status of a child as a legitimate or illegitimate heir could be changed—in either direction—under the [[Civil law (common law)|civil law]]:  A legislative act could deprive a child of legitimacy; conversely, a marriage between the previously unmarried parents, usually within a specified time, such as a year, could retroactively [[Legitimation|legitimate]] a child's birth.

Fathers of illegitimate children often did not incur comparable [[censure]] or legal responsibility, due to [[social attitude]]s about [[Sexual intercourse|sex]], the nature of sexual reproduction, and the difficulty of determining [[Paternity (law)|paternity]] with [[certainty]].

By the final third of the 20th century, in the [[United States]], all the states had adopted uniform laws that codified the responsibility of both parents to provide support and care for a child, regardless of the [[parent]]s' [[marital status]], and gave non-marital as well as [[adoption|adopted]] persons equal rights to inherit their parents' property.  In the early 1970s, a series of [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] decisions abolished most, if not all, of the common-law disabilities of non-marital birth, as being violations of the [[equal protection|equal-protection]] clause of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://supreme.justia.com/constitution/amendment-14/90-illegitimacy.html |title=Illegitimacy |access-date=2009-10-19 |publisher=Justia}}</ref> Generally speaking, in the United States, "illegitimate" has been supplanted by the phrase "born out of wedlock."

In contrast, other jurisdictions (particularly western continental European countries) tend to favour social parentage over the biological parentage. Here a man (not necessarily the biological father) may voluntarily [[Recognition (family law)|recognise]] the child to be identified as the father, thus giving legitimacy to the child; the biological father does not have any special rights in this area. In [[France]], a mother may refuse to recognize her own child (see [[anonymous birth]]).

A contribution to the decline of the concept of illegitimacy had been made by increased ease of obtaining [[divorce]]. Before this, the mother and father of many children had been unable to marry each other because one or the other was already legally bound, by civil or [[canon law]], in a non-viable earlier [[marriage]] that did not permit divorce. Their only recourse, often, had been to wait for the death of the earlier spouse(s). Thus Polish political and military leader [[Józef Piłsudski]] (1867–1935) was unable to marry his second wife, [[Aleksandra Piłsudska|Aleksandra]], until his first wife, [[Maria Piłsudska|Maria]], died in 1921; by this time, Piłsudski and Aleksandra had two out-of-wedlock daughters.<ref>[[:pl:Andrzej Garlicki|Andrzej Garlicki]], "Piłsudski, Józef Klemens," ''[[Polski słownik biograficzny]]'', vol. XXVI, 1981, pp. 320, 323.</ref>

==Social implications==
[[File:Albert Einstein and his wife Mileva Maric.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Mileva Marić]] and [[Albert Einstein]], 1912]]

Nonmarital birth has affected not only the individuals themselves. The stress that such circumstances of birth once regularly visited upon families is illustrated in the case of [[Albert Einstein]] and his wife-to-be, [[Mileva Marić]], who—when she became pregnant with the first of their three children, [[Lieserl Einstein|Lieserl]]—felt compelled to maintain separate domiciles in different cities.<ref>J. Renn and R. Schulmann, ''Albert Einstein / Mileva Marić: The Love Letters'', 1992, pp. 73–74, 78.</ref><ref>Alice Calaprice and Trevor Lipscombe, ''Albert Einstein: A Biography'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, {{ISBN|978-0-313-33080-3}}, pp. 22–23.</ref>

[[File:EdwinBooth.jpeg|thumb|upright|left|[[Edwin Booth]]]]
Some persons born outside of marriage have been driven to excel in their endeavors, for good or ill, by a desire to overcome the social stigma and disadvantage that attached to it. Nora Titone, in her book ''My Thoughts Be Bloody'', recounts how the shame and ambition of actor [[Junius Brutus Booth]]'s two actor sons born outside of marriage, [[Edwin Booth]] and [[John Wilkes Booth]], spurred them to strive, as rivals, for achievement and acclaim—John Wilkes, the assassin of [[Abraham Lincoln]], and Edwin, a [[Union (American Civil War)|Unionist]] who a year earlier [[Edwin Booth#Robert Lincoln rescue|had saved the life of Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, in a railroad accident]].<ref name="Titone2010">Nora Titone. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vBSQUOMDMLEC My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth That Led to an American Tragedy]''. New York: Simon and Schuster; 2010 [cited September 24, 2011]. {{ISBN|978-1-4165-8605-0}}.</ref>

[[File:Alexander Hamilton miniature by Charles Shirreff c1790.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|[[Alexander Hamilton]], 1790]]
Historian [[John Ferling]], in his book ''Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation'', makes the same point: that [[Alexander Hamilton]]'s non-marital birth spurred him to seek accomplishment and distinction.<ref>Discussed by [[John Ferling|Ferling]] in a 9 October 2013 lecture on [[C-SPAN2]] ''[[Book TV]]''.</ref> The Swedish artist [[Anders Zorn]] (1860–1920) was similarly motivated by his non-marital birth to prove himself and excel in his métier.<ref>"Anders Zorn in the Gilded Age", [[PBS]] biography ([[Colorado Public Television]]), one hour, 2013.</ref>

[[File:Te lawrence.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[T. E. Lawrence]]]]
Similarly, [[T. E. Lawrence]]'s biographer Flora Armitage writes about being born outside of marriage: "The effect on [T. E.] Lawrence of this discovery was profound; it added to the romantic urge for heroic conduct—the dream of the [[Sangreal]]—the seed of ambition, the desire for honor and distinction: the redemption of the blood from its taint."<ref name="Flora Armitage p. 42"/> 

Another biographer, [[John E. Mack]], writes in a similar vein: "[H]is mother required of him that he ''redeem'' her fallen state by his own special achievements, by being a person of unusual value who accomplishes great deeds, preferably religious and ideally on an heroic scale. Lawrence did his best to fulfill heroic deeds. But he was plagued, especially after the events of the war activated his inner conflicts, by a deep sense of failure. Having been deceived as a child he was later to feel that he himself was a deceiver—that he had deceived the Arabs..."<ref>[[John E. Mack]], ''A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence'', 1976, p. 28.</ref> "Mrs. Lawrence's original hope that her sons would provide her personal redemption by becoming Christian missionaries was fulfilled only by [Lawrence's brother] Robert."<ref>[[John E. Mack]], ''A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence'', 1976, p. 32.</ref> 

Mack elaborates further: "Part of his creativity and originality lies in his 'irregularity,' in his capacity to remain outside conventional ways of thinking, a tendency which... derives, at least in part, from his illegitimacy. Lawrence's capacity for invention and his ability to see unusual or humorous relationships in familiar situations come also... from his illegitimacy. He was not limited to established or 'legitimate' solutions or ways of doing things, and thus his mind was open to a wider range of possibilities and opportunities. [At the same time] Lawrence's illegitimacy had important social consequences and placed limitations upon him, which rankled him deeply... At times he felt socially isolated when erstwhile friends shunned him upon learning of his background. Lawrence's delight in making fun of regular officers and other segments of 'regular' society... derived... at least in part from his inner view of his own irregular situation. His fickleness about names for himself [he changed his name twice to distance himself from his "Lawrence of Arabia" persona] is directly related... to his view of his parents and to his identification with them [his father had changed his name after running off with T. E. Lawrence's future mother]."<ref>[[John E. Mack]], ''A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence'', 1976, pp. 28–29.</ref>

[[File:Hernando Colón.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Fernando Columbus|Fernando (Hernando) Columbus]]]]
[[Christopher Columbus]]' first son, [[Diego Columbus]] (born between 1474 and 1480; died 1526), by Columbus' wife, [[Filipa Moniz Perestrelo]], followed in his father's footsteps to become the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indies, and 4th Governor of the Indies.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]|title=Diego Columbus|date=23 February 2024 | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/126154/Diego-Columbu}}</ref> Columbus' second son, [[Fernando Columbus]] (also known as Hernando; 1488–1539), was his out-of-wedlock son by [[Beatriz Enríquez de Arana]] and—while he grew up with a fair amount of power and privilege—due to the circumstances of his birth he never quite gained the prominence his father did. Hernando Columbus' biographer [[Edward Wilson-Lee]]<ref>[[Edward Wilson-Lee]], ''The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books: Young Columbus and the Quest for a Universal Library'', William Collins, 2018.</ref> says Hernando "always wanted to prove himself his father's son in spirit. [S]o he undertook th[e] extraordinary project [of] building a universal [[library]] that would [hold] every book in the world...  [H]e very much saw this as a counterpart to his father's desire to circumnavigate the world.... Hernando was going to build a universal library that would circumnavigate the world of knowledge."<ref name="auto2">[[Ari Shapiro]], "Christopher Columbus' Son Had an Enormous Library. Its Catalog Was Just Found", [[All Things Considered]], [[NPR]] newscast, 24 April 2019 [https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716600905/christopher-columbus-son-had-an-enormous-library-its-catalog-was-just-found]</ref> 

However, realizing that such a large collection of books would not be very useful without a way of organizing and distilling them, he employed an army of readers to read every book and distill it down to a short summary, or "[[epitome]]". The result was the [[Libro de los Epítomes|''Libro de los Epitomes'' (Book of Epitomes)]]. Soon after Hernando's death in 1539 at age 50, this volume went missing for nearly 500 years—until in 2019 it was serendipitously discovered in a [[University of Copenhagen]] special collection. Many of the early printed publications that the ''Book of Epitomes'' summarizes are now lost; but thanks to the out-of-wedlock [[bibliophile]] Hernando Columbus, eager to emulate in his own way his father and "legitimate" half-brother, invaluable insights are becoming available into the knowledge and thought of the early [[Modern Period]].<ref name="auto2"/>
[[File:Gira internacional USA - Steve Jobs (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Steve Jobs]]]]
In more recent times, [[Steve Jobs]]' adoption due to the nonmarried status of his biological parents influenced his life and career.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bradford |first=Krista |date=2023-09-14 |title=The Good Search {{!}} National Retained Executive Search Firm |url=https://tgsus.com/best-of-blog/what-adoption-did-to-steve-jobs/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=The Good Search |language=en-US}}</ref> He confided to close friends that he was driven by the pain he felt about having been put up for [[adoption]] and not having known who his birth parents were.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Batura |first=Paul, with Jim Daly  |date=2017-03-20 |title=The Improbable Adoption Story of Steve Jobs |url=https://jimdaly.focusonthefamily.com/improbable-adoption-story-steve-jobs/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=Jim Daly |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Violence and honor killings==
While births outside marriage are considered acceptable in many world regions, in some parts of the world they remain highly stigmatized. Women who have given birth under such circumstances are often subjected to violence at the hands of their families; and may even become victims of so-called [[honor killings]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/honourcrimes/|title=BBC - Ethics: Honour Crimes|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrt-rrt.gov.au/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=91cf943a-3fa6-4fce-afec-4ab2c2a356fd |format=PDF |title=Refugee Review Tribunal, Australia: RRT Research Response |access-date=2017-03-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501013343/http://www.mrt-rrt.gov.au/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=91cf943a-3fa6-4fce-afec-4ab2c2a356fd |archive-date=2013-05-01 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3523123.stm | work=BBC News | title=Turkey condemns 'honour killings' | date=1 March 2004}}</ref> These women may also be prosecuted under laws forbidding sexual relations outside marriage and may face consequent punishments, including [[stoning]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/06/03/nigeria.stoning/ | work=CNN | title=Nigeria stoning appeal adjourned | date=3 June 2003}}</ref>

==In fiction==
{{Main|Illegitimacy in fiction}}

Illegitimacy has for centuries provided a motif and plot element to [[Illegitimacy in fiction|works of fiction]] by prominent authors, including [[William Shakespeare]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Henry Fielding]], [[Voltaire]], [[Jane Austen]], [[Alexandre Dumas, père|Alexandre Dumas, ''père'']], [[Charles Dickens]], [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], [[Wilkie Collins]], [[Anthony Trollope]], [[Alexandre Dumas, fils|Alexandre Dumas, ''fils'']], [[George Eliot]], [[Victor Hugo]], [[Leo Tolstoy]], [[Ivan Turgenev]], [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]], [[Thomas Hardy]], [[Alphonse Daudet]], [[Bolesław Prus]], [[Henry James]], [[Joseph Conrad]], [[E. M. Forster]], [[C. S. Forester]], [[Marcel Pagnol]], [[Grace Metalious]], [[John Irving]], and [[George R. R. Martin]].

==Notables==
Some pre-20th-century modern individuals whose unconventional "illegitimate" origins did not prevent them from making (and in some cases helped inspire them to make) notable contributions to humanity's art or learning have included [[Leone Battista Alberti]]<ref>[[Joan Kelly-Gadol]], "Leon Battista Alberti" (last updated 21 April 2021), ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]'' [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leon-Battista-Alberti]</ref> (1404–1472), [[Leonardo da Vinci]]<ref>"Leonardo da Vinci", ''[[The Encyclopedia Americana]]'', vol. 17, pp. 228-236, Danbury, CT, Grolier Incorporated, 1986, {{ISBN|0-7172-0117-1}}, p. 228.</ref> (1452–1519), [[Erasmus of Rotterdam]]<ref>"Erasmus", ''[[The Encyclopedia Americana]]'', vol. 10, pp. 541–542, Danbury, CT, Grolier Incorporated, 1986, {{ISBN|0-7172-0117-1}}, p. 541.</ref> 1466–1536), [[Jean le Rond d'Alembert]]<ref>"Alembert, Jean le Rond d'", ''[[The Encyclopedia Americana]]'', vol. 1, Danbury, CT, Grolier Incorporated, 1986, {{ISBN|0-7172-0117-1}}, p. 526.</ref> (1717–1783), [[Alexander Hamilton]] (1755 or 1757–1804), [[James Smithson]]<ref>"Smithson, James", ''[[The Encyclopedia Americana]]'', vol. 25, Danbury, CT, Grolier Incorporated, 1986, {{ISBN|0-7172-0117-1}}, p. 65.</ref> (1764–1829), [[John James Audubon]]<ref>"Audubon, John James", ''[[The Encyclopedia Americana]]'', vol. 2, Danbury, CT, Grolier Incorporated, 1986, {{ISBN|0-7172-0117-1}}, p. 677.</ref> (1785–1851), [[Alexander Herzen]]<ref>"Herzen, Aleksandr Ivanovich", ''[[The Encyclopedia Americana]]'', vol. 14, Danbury, CT, Grolier Incorporated, 1986, {{ISBN|0-7172-0117-1}}, pp. 161-162.</ref> (1812–1870), [[Jenny Lind]]<ref>Carole Rosen (2004), "Lind (married name Lind-Goldschmidt), Jenny (Johanna Maria)", doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16671, in ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' (subscription required).</ref> (1820–1887), and [[Alexandre Dumas, fils|Alexandre Dumas, ''fils'']]<ref>"Dumas, Alexandre", ''[[The Encyclopedia Americana]]'', vol. 9, Danbury, CT, Grolier Incorporated, 1986, {{ISBN|0-7172-0117-1}}, pp. 466-467.</ref> (1824–1895).

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Abortion in the United States]]
* [[Affiliation (family law)]]
* [[Anne Orthwood's bastard trial]]
* [[Bastard (Jewish law)]]
* [[Bastard (law of England and Wales)]]
* [[Childwite]]
* [[Colonial American bastardy laws]]
* [[Defect of birth]]
* [[Filial responsibility laws|Filiation]]  
* [[Hague Adoption Convention]]
* [[Illegitimacy in fiction]]
* [[Legitimacy law in England and Wales]]
* [[Legitime]]
* [[Marks of distinction]]
* [[#Nonmarital births|Nonmarital birth rates by country]] 
* [[Non-paternity event]]
* [[Orphan]]
* [[Unintended pregnancy]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{EB1911 poster|Legitimacy and Legitimation}}
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*Flora Armitage, ''The Desert and the Stars: a Biography of Lawrence of Arabia'', illustrated with photographs, New York, [[Henry Holt and Company]], 1955.
*[[:pl:Andrzej Garlicki|Andrzej Garlicki]], "Piłsudski, Józef Klemens," ''[[Polski słownik biograficzny]]'', vol. XXVI, [[Wrocław]], [[Polish Academy of Sciences|Polska Akademia Nauk]], 1981, pp.&nbsp;311–24.
*Shirley Foster Hartley, ''Illegitimacy'', University of California Press, 1975.
*Alysa Levene, Thomas Nutt & Samantha Williams, eds. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6VpQgAACAAJ Illegitimacy in Britain, 1700–1920]''. [[Palgrave Macmillan]]; 2005 [cited 24 September 2011]. {{ISBN|978-1-4039-9065-5}}.
*[[John E. Mack]]. ''[https://archive.org/details/princeofourdisor00mack_0 A Prince of Our Disorder:  The Life of T. E. Lawrence]''. [[Harvard University Press]]; 1998 [cited September 24, 2011]. {{ISBN|978-0-674-70494-7}}.
*[[Charles Simic]], "You Laugh Uncontrollably" (review of Bohumil Hrabal, ''Mr. Kafka and Other Tales from the Time of the Cult'', translated from the [[Czech language|Czech]] by [[Paul Wilson (translator)|Paul Wilson]], [[New Directions Publishing|New Directions]], 142 pp., $14.95 [paper]), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXIII, no. 8 (May 12, 2016), pp.&nbsp;58–60.
*[[Jenny Teichman]]. ''[https://archive.org/details/illegitimacyexam0000teic Illegitimacy: an examination of bastardy]''. [[Cornell University Press]]; 1982 [cited September 24, 2011]. {{ISBN|978-0-8014-1491-6}}.
*Nora Titone, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vBSQUOMDMLEC My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth that Led to an American Tragedy]'', New York, Simon and Schuster, 2010 [cited September 24, 2011], {{ISBN|978-1-4165-8605-0}}.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/unmarried.htm Percentage of Births to Unmarried Mothers by State: 2014] (distribution of births outside marriage across the United States)
*[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160405161120.htm Cuckolded fathers rare in human populations]
*[[Ari Shapiro]], "Christopher Columbus' Son Had an Enormous Library. Its Catalog Was Just Found", [[All Things Considered]], [[NPR]] newscast, 24 April 2019 [https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716600905/christopher-columbus-son-had-an-enormous-library-its-catalog-was-just-found]
*[https://www.psychvarsity.com/Psychological-Effects-Of-Being-An-Illegitimate-Child The Psychological Effects of Being an Illegitimate Child - Low self-esteem, trust issues, and identity problems]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Civil law (common law)]]
[[Category:Extramarital relationships]]
[[Category:Family law]]
[[Category:Legitimacy law]]


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